Jury Selection Starts In Car-seat Death

MIAMI -- Jury selection began on Monday in the trial of a father charged in the accidental death of his 3-year-old daughter, whom he failed to place in a child-safety seat.

Ramiro Rodriguez, 30, a Nicaraguan-born cook, is thought to be the first parent in the United States tried for failing to strap in a child who later died in a car accident.

If convicted of vehicular manslaughter, Rodriguez would face up to five years in prison. Prosecutors have said they would probably ask for probation. Rodriguez has no criminal record.

The defense will argue that Rodriguez suffered enough from the death of his daughter, who was flung into a windshield when her father`s car collided with a van on Aug. 3.

Rodriguez said Veronica was sitting on her mother`s lap instead of in a car seat because she had been sick and was crying. The accident was within sight of the family`s front door.

``What will they accomplish if they send me to prison? It won`t bring my daughter back, and it will destroy the rest of my family,`` Rodriguez said on Monday.

Prosecutor Sally Weintraub has said Rodriguez failed to obey the law, which requires motorists to use a restraint device for children ages 5 and younger. Children ages 4 or 5 are allowed to use a car`s seat belt.

A pool of 40 jurors was quizzed by Dade County Circuit Judge Sidney B. Shapiro about their recollections of the case, which has attracted national attention.

Rodriguez, who speaks no English, sat at the defense table next to a interpreter.

The trial is expected to last a week.

Similar cases throughout the country have been resolved out of court. Recently, a father in Pennsylvania was charged in the vehicular death of his 4-year-old daughter, and his trial is pending.